The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house for the New Hampshire General Court. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts, making it the largest lower house in the nation, and the third largest parliamentary body in the world.[1] Each member represents an average of 3,291 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[2] After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 3,089 residents.[3] Each House Member is paid $250 a year, as stipulated by the New Hampshire Constitution. House members also receive mileage reimbursement for officially related travel[4].

Sessions

The Second Part of the New Hampshire Constitution establishes when the New Hampshire General Court, of which the House is a part, is to be in session. Article 3 of the Second Part states that the General Court is to convene annually on the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday in January. Additionally, in even-numbered years, the General Court is to meet on the first Wednesday of December for organizational purposes.

2010

Elections

2012

Elections for the office of New Hampshire House of Representatives were held in New Hampshire on November 6, 2012. All 400 seats were up for election.

The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was June 15, 2012. Additionally, nomination papers must be filed by September 5, 2012.[9]

This chamber was mentioned in a November 2012 Pew Center on the States article that addressed supermajorities at stake in the 2012 election. Supermajority generally means a party controls two-thirds of all seats. While it varies from state to state, being in this position gives a party much greater power. Going into the election, Republicans in the New Hampshire House currently have a supermajority, which Democrats are seeking to cut into.[10]

2010

The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was June 11, 2010. The primary election day was September 14, 2010.

In 2010, the candidates for state house raised a total of $489,484 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were: [11]

2010 Donors, New Hampshire House of Representatives

Donor

Amount

New Hampshire House Republican Victory PAC

$7,660

Total of All General Election Receipts in this Report (Uncoded)

$4,997

Difroscia, A R

$4,637

Abrami, Patrick

$4,463

New Hampshire Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons

$4,350

Jackman, Norma Roth

$4,293

Obrien, William L

$4,109

Pillsbury, Leland & Mary

$4,000

Peckham, Michele

$3,731

Nashua Republican City Cmte

$3,608

Qualifications

Article 14 of Part 2 of the New Hampshire Constitution states, "Every member of the house of representatives shall be chosen by ballot; and, for two years, at least, next preceding his election shall have been an inhabitant of this state; shall be, at the time of his election, an inhabitant of the town, ward, place, or district he may be chosen to represent and shall cease to represent such town, ward, place, or district immediately on his ceasing to be qualified as aforesaid."

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the House, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. It's up to the Governor to call for an election and to set an election date as soon as possible. There are no deadlines set by the state constitution on special elections[12][13].

Redistricting

Redistricting in New Hampshire is handled by the General Court, with the Governor wielding veto power.

2010 census

New Hampshire received its local Census data on March 22, 2011. The state's population increased 6.5 percent, with Coos County being the only county to face a decrease (-0.2 percent). Growth in the larger cities was mild: Manchester grew by 2.4 percent, Nashua decreased by 0.1 percent, Concord grew by 4.9 percent, Derry decreased by 2.7 percent, and Dover grew by 11.5 percent.[14]

At the time of redistricting, Republicans controlled the General Court, and the Democrats controlled the governorship. On March 23, 2012, Gov. John Lynch (D) signed into law a new Senate plan but vetoed the House map, citing a lack of representation in towns that exceed 3,000, which automatically merit their own representative; the Legislature overrode the veto on March 28, 2012. The Department of Justice -- which has the duty of pre-clearing New Hampshire redistricting maps under the Voting Rights Act -- approved the maps in May 2012. On June 19, 2012, several lawsuits regarding the House map were thrown out by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Partisan composition

Leadership

The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the body. Duties of the Speaker include preserving order, enforcing and interpreting parliamentary rules, making committee appointments, and referring bills to the appropriate committee for review. The Speaker only votes in the case of a tie.[17]

Current members

Note: In New Hampshire, a member of the state legislature can be designated as being a member of more than one party. If a candidate runs on one ticket and the opposing party fields no candidate, and if the candidate gets a certain number of write-in votes on the opposing party ticket, then as an elected official, that politician is defined as belonging to both parties.

As of the 2012 elections, there is one member listed as being of both parties: Janet Wall. The New Hampshire House of Representatives keeps an official online list of all members of the chamber. On that list, representatives who have more than one party designation by custom have the party that could be considered their true party listed first. On that list, Wall is considered a Democrat first. The list below follows that practice.